The 7 Reasons America Became A Great Power

"In
the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there
is one plain and simple principle: There exists in such a case a certain
institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or
gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily
up to it and says, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’
To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer:
‘If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it
away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that
you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’" — G.K. Chesterton

We hear a great deal about how America needs to be "changed" by
people who don't seem to know America's history, understand our
country's uniqueness, or appreciate how good we've had it as a people.
Until you understand what made America a great nation to begin with, you
have no business suggesting any changes to the policies, tradition, and
culture that made us so uniquely successful. It's not an accident that
America became a great power. It's because of these seven reasons.

1) Judeo-Christian Ethics: When people call America a
"Christian nation," they're referring to the Judeo-Christian morals that
shaped our country. Our strong sense of right and wrong kept corruption
to a minimum, our Protestant work ethic caused Americans to be
productive, and our belief in rights given by God, not government shaped
our national philosophy. Respect for Christian values is a part of the
fabric of our country that goes right back to our founding. Even if many
people wouldn't realize it until it is too late, an America where
Christianity isn't an important part of everyday life would no longer be
America in any meaningful sense.

2) A Powerful Military: There's a lot to be said for "soft
power," but it pales in comparison to raw military might. The United
States was not always a great military power, but once the Civil War was
over, we started to assert ourselves. Since WWII, we've had the finest
military on Planet Earth. That one factor does more to insure our
freedom and the safety of our allies than every other factor combined.
As Reagan said, "History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap." At least for now, no nation could be so foolish as to believe that a potential fight with the United States would be cheap.

3) Western Culture: If the entire population of Venezuela,
Iran, or South Africa were here in the United States and all of us were
gone, this country would quickly turn into a pesthole, just like all of
those nations because they're culturally inferior to us. On the other
hand, Western culture has produced ancient Greece, the Roman Empire,
Britain, the United States and a host of lesser nations that are still
more successful than 90% of the planet. The emphasis in Western culture
on individualism, innovation, Christianity, capitalism, science,
technology, freedom and individual rights has given us an enormous
advantage that we are sadly eroding with our foolish embrace of
multi-culturalism.

4) Geography: We can't underestimate the importance of being a
large, resource-rich nation that's isolated from powerful foes. Had
Britain been considerably closer, it's possible that we may have been
unable to break away and take control of our own destiny. If we had
powerful adversaries to our North and South, we may have had great
difficulties when our nation was young and we were just finding our
strength. If we had been closer to Europe, our homeland might have been
decimated during WWI and WWII. If God had given us first choice of
places to found a nation, this is where we would have ended up.

5) Industrial Capacity: Economically, America managed to take
full advantage of the Industrial Revolution and most people still don't
realize how important our ability to churn out material was to winning
WWII. Just to give you one of many examples,

"By 1944 America built 96,300 planes, more planes
than were possessed by the Axis combined and this does not include
British and Soviet production. The Germans built 40,000 war planes in
1944, but the arrival of P51 Mustangs in the skies over Germany resulted
in the destruction of the Luftwaffe. And American production was 75
percent combat aircraft.....This was the peak of production, an
incredible 11 planes an hour were rolling out of American aircraft
plants."

We lack this capacity today and make up for our inability to mass
produce weaponry by creating high quality war machines. This is a
potentially dangerous strategy because if a large chunk of our superior
weaponry were ever destroyed somehow, it would take us an inordinately
long time to rebuild it.

6) A Merit-Based Society: America's lack of an aristocracy,
tribes, and castes helped allow the cream to rise to the top in our
society. Although we certainly weren't perfect in this regard as any
slave or woman throughout most of our history could tell you, we were
well ahead of much of the rest of the world. The fact that we're still
regarded by the rest of the world as a "land of opportunity" is one of
our greatest strengths, although our antiquated immigration system does
little to take advantage of this fact. The more we penalize success as a
society, the more stratified, stagnant and sterile we'll become as a
country.

7) A Constitution That Limited Centralized Government: Nothing
could be more fundamentally American than a deep and abiding distrust
of government. That's why the Constitution was specifically designed to
keep our own government from oppressing the people. This contributed
mightily to our success because the bigger and more powerful the
government becomes, the smaller, weaker and poorer the people become.
Our Founding Fathers understood this and were fanatical about small,
decentralized government. The further we move from that principle, the
more economic stagnation, frightening levels of debt, and potentially
dangerous tyranny we'll see from our own government.

How Foreign is Our Policy?

Many people are lamenting the bad consequences of Barack Obama's foreign policy, and some are questioning his competence.

There is much to lament, and much to fear. Multiple setbacks to
American interests have been brought on by Obama's policies in Libya,
Egypt, Syria, Crimea and -- above all -- in what seems almost certain to
become a nuclear Iran in the very near future.

The president's public warning to Syria of dire consequences if the
Assad regime there crossed a "red line" he had drawn seemed to epitomize
an amateurish bluff that was exposed as a bluff when Syria crossed that
red line without suffering any consequences. Drawing red lines in
disappearing ink makes an international mockery of not only this
president's credibility, but also the credibility of future American
presidents' commitments.

When some future President of the United States issues a solemn
warning internationally, and means it, there may be less likelihood that
the warning will be taken seriously. That invites the kind of
miscalculation that has led to wars.

Many who are disappointed with what seem to be multiple fiascoes in
President Obama's foreign policy question his competence and blame his
inexperience.Such critics may be right, but it is by no means certain
that they are.

Like those who are disappointed with Barack Obama's domestic policies,
critics of his foreign policy may be ignoring the fact that you cannot
know whether someone is failing or succeeding without knowing what he is
trying to do.

Whether ObamaCare, for example, is a success or a failure, depends on
whether you think the president's goal is to improve the medical
treatment of Americans or to leave as his permanent legacy a system of
income redistribution, through ObamaCare, and tight government control
of the medical profession.

Much, if not most, of the disappointment with Barack Obama comes from
expectations based on his words, rather than on an examination of what
he has done over his lifetime before reaching the White House.

His words were glowing. He is a master of rhetoric, image and
postures. He was so convincing that many failed to connect the dots of
his past life that pointed in the opposite direction from his words.
"Community organizers," for example, are not uniters but dividers -- and
former community organizer Obama has polarized this country, despite
his rhetoric about uniting us.

Many were so mesmerized by both the man himself and the euphoria
surrounding the idea of "the first black president" that they failed to
notice that there were any dots, much less any need to connect them.

One dot alone -- the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whose church the Obamas
attended for 20 years -- would have been enough to sink any other
presidential bid by anyone who was not in line to become "the first
black president."

The painful irony is that Jeremiah Wright was just one in a series of
Obama's mentors hostile to America, resentful of successful Americans,
and convinced that America had too much power internationally, and
needed to be brought down a peg.

Anti-Americanism was the rule, not the exception, among Obama's
mentors over the years, beginning in his childhood. When the young Obama
and his mother lived in Indonesia, her Indonesian husband wanted her to
accompany him to social gatherings with American businessmen -- and was
puzzled when she refused.

He reminded her that these were her own people. According to Barack
Obama's own eyewitness account, her voice rose "almost to a shout" when
she replied:

"They are not my people."

Most of Barack Obama's foreign policy decisions since becoming
president are consistent with this mindset. He has acted repeatedly as a
citizen of the world, even though he was elected to be President of the
United States.

Virtually every major move of the Obama administration has reduced the
power, security and influence of America and its allies. Cutbacks in
military spending, while our adversaries have increased their military
buildups, ensure that these changes to our detriment will continue, even
after Barack Obama has left the White House.

He was recruited in February and discharged last week,
after authorities found out about his jihad plan. Of course, there are
no safeguards in the recruitment process to screen out potential
jihadis. Hamas-CAIR would never allow that — and they have far too much
influence in Washington.

How many more jihad plots like this have to be uncovered before we
return to common-sense policies? If Muslims must be in the U.S.
military, they should at least be closely questioned about their views
of jihad and allegiance to the U.S. Yes, they may lie, but a seasoned
investigator will be able to spot signs of that. At least it would be something, rather than the present Obama-era abject politically correct surrender.

“FBI, US military in hunt for one-time recruit planning ‘Fort Hood-style jihad,’”FoxNews.com, March 31, 2014:

EXCLUSIVE: The FBI is searching for a recent Army
recruit believed to be planning a “Fort Hood-inspired jihad against U.S.
soldiers,” FoxNews.com has learned.

The alert, whose legitimacy was confirmed by military and law
enforcement officials, stated that a man identified as Booker had told
friends of his “intention to commit jihad.” Booker, who is also known as
Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, was recruited by the U.S. Army in Kansas
City, Mo., in February 2014 and was scheduled to report for basic
training on April 7. But he was discharged last week, apparently after law enforcement authorities learned of his alleged plan.

Both the FBI and the 902d Military Intelligence Group at Fort Leavenworth are involved in the hunt.

The alert, a copy of which was obtained by FoxNews.com, was sent out by the FBI’s Kansas City Division on Friday
and distributed through the U.S. Marine Corps. The portion obtained by
FoxNews.com did not include Hassan’s photo or age. It was also sent to
the Kansas City Police Department, which could indicate authorities
believe he may have remained in the area where he was recruited.

The alert is titled, “Planned Fort Hood-inspired Jihad against US
Soldiers by Army Recruit” and was issued “to inform and protect officers
who may encounter this individual or others exhibiting the same
aspirations.” The source of the information contained in the alert was
listed as “An FBI agent.”

According to the alert:

“On 20 March 2014, the Kansas City Division FBI became aware of an
individual named BOOKER aka Muhammad Abdullah Hassan who had publicly
stated his intention to commit jihad, bidding farewell to his friends
and making comments indicating his jihad was imminent. BOOKER had been
recruited by the US Army in Kansas City, Mo., in February 2014 and was
scheduled to report for Basic Training on 7 April 2014. Kansas City Division Agents interviewed BOOKER on 20 March 2014.”

Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Ty Balzer confirmed the alert’s
legitimacy, but referred questions to the FBI. A spokeswoman with the
Kansas City Division of the FBI — the same division responsible for
sending out the alert and who, according to the alert, spoke with Booker
on March 20 — said she did “not have any information to provide in
regards to your inquiry.”

Law enforcement sources familiar with the alert said it appeared to
suggest that there may be others in addition to Booker who also might
have expressed similar intentions to commit jihad against U.S. military
installations.

A military source said it appeared the bulletin was provided by the
FBI, then distributed by the Marine Corps under the normal protocol of
sharing any information relating to a potential threat to U.S. military
installations or personnel.

A spokesman for the Kansas City recruiting station where Booker
enlisted referred FoxNews.com’s questions to 902d Military Intelligence
Group, which did not immediately return requests for comment.

The Fort Hood shooting, referenced in the alert, took place on Nov.
5, 2009. U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, a psychiatrist who had become a
radical Muslim while serving in the military, killed 13 people and
injured dozens more inside the Texas Army base. Hasan, who represented
himself at a military trial after clashing with his appointed attorneys,
was sentenced to death in August.

In a possible breakthrough, high-level sources are saying the
United States may release convicted spy Jonathan Pollard in return for
Israeli concessions in the peace talks with the Palestinians.

Reuters, The Associated Press, and The New York Times all ran stories
Monday evening citing sources close to the negotiations stating that a
deal involving Pollard could be in the offing. Israeli publication
Haaretz says the deal is 'nearly sealed.' Everyone emphasizes substantial, ongoing diplomacy would be required to work out an arrangement suitable to all sides.

Leading civil libertarian and staunch Israel defender Alan Dershowitz, a
Harvard Law professor, author, and Newsmax contributor, hailed the
prospect of Pollard’s release as long overdue.

"I actually urged the White House to do that about a year ago when the
White House was pressuring Israel to release more prisoners," Dershowitz
told Newsmax on Monday afternoon.

"I suggested that the deal be more triangular: that if Israel is being
pressured to release murderers with blood on their hands, who might
commit more murders, then certainly the United States could throw
something into the pot by releasing an old man who poses absolutely no
danger to the United States. So, I hope it happens."

Secretary of State John Kerry rushed to Israel on Monday in a bid to
save the faltering talks. Israel has asked for assurances that
Palestinian officials are negotiating in good faith. The Palestinians
insist that Israel is threatening to renege on its prior commitments.

Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, and
is also scheduled to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the
Palestinian Authority.

Pollard’s release would be of great cultural and political significance
to many Israelis. A civilian analyst in the U.S. intelligence community,
Pollard was arrested in 1985 and charged with handing thousands of
sensitive documents over to Israeli operatives. If the Netanyahu
government could win Pollard’s release, which many Israeli leaders have
failed to do over the years, it could insulate him from political blow
back if the prisoners are released and the Palestinian talks fall
through.

Reuters reports that Pollard could be released in mid-April as part of a
three-way deal that would also see 27 Palestinians go free. In return,
peace talks would be extended past the current drop-dead date of April
29.

The Times of Israel reported contacts in Netanyahu’s office declined to
comment on the reports involving Pollard, but did not deny the
discussions underway.

The Palestinians have given Kerry 24 hours to resolve Israel’s issue
with the prisoner transfer. They are threatening pursuit of
international recognition, and the filing of criminal charges against
Israel in international courts if the matter is not resolved.

"Remember how difficult it is for Israel to free prisoners," Dershowitz
says. "These are people who have killed in cold blood. Some of them,
when they’ve been released, have gone back to terrorist activities. So
it’s very, very difficult.

"Just imagine Americans today releasing somebody like [Boston Marathon
bombing suspect] Tsarnaev as part of a deal. Americans wouldn’t accept
that, it would be utterly unacceptable.

"Or releasing someone who had done 9/11. For Israel, that’s what they’re
being asked to do essentially, and it’s very difficult. This would help
enormously."

Israeli leaders consider the approximately 5,000 Palestinian prisoners
in Israeli jails to be criminals and terrorists. Palestinian leaders,
conversely, see them as heroic freedom fighters.

Or
else that will be the end of this round of the “Peace Process” charade,
and the “Palestinians” will go to the United Nations to seek unilateral
recognition of statehood. That will lead to disputes over various
territories, which will lead to more jihad war, which is what they want
in the first place.

RAMALLAH – The Palestinians on Monday gave US
Secretary of State John Kerry 24 hours to resolve a dispute with Israel
over prisoners after which they will resume moves to seek international
recognition.

“If we don’t get an answer from John Kerry on
the prisoners tonight, we’ll begin to ask for membership in all UN
agencies tomorrow,” Palestinian MP Mustafa Barghouti told AFP following a
top-level leadership meeting in Ramallah which took place as Kerry
arrived in Israel.

US peace efforts are teetering on the brink of
collapse after Israel refused to free a group of 26 long-serving
Palestinian prisoners under an agreement which brought the sides back to
the negotiating table in July 2013.

Furious Palestinian officials have warned that
unless Israel changes its stance on the prisoner releases, it could
signal the end of the talks.

Another Palestinian official who attended the
meeting in Ramallah told AFP “the Israeli government violated the
agreements and must bear the consequences of its decisions.”

The two Palestinian officials also said that
the leadership had confirmed there was “no link between the release of
Palestinian prisoners and the extension of negotiations.”

Top officials also agreed there would be no
extension of talks without a “comprehensive” freeze on settlement
construction in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem, they said.

The peace talks, which have so far yielded no
obvious results, are due to draw to a close on April 29 and US efforts
are currently focused on getting the parties to agree to an extension….

Op-ed:Settlements instead of peace...or so say the PalestiniansBy: Diane Sori

"We are continuing to work with the Americans."Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks stalled

With the 'so-called' Palestinians refusing to budge on the
all-important issue of formally recognizing Israel as a Jewish state
along with forgoing the 'right of return' (they have NO right to return
to anything)...and with the Palestinians claiming that Israel continues
to reject their peace efforts by refusing to comply with the rules of
international law for resolving said conflict (translation: for refusing
to accept peace based on the now indefensible pre-'67 borders)...the
diplomatic solution to the Israeli/Palestinian issue is for all intents
and purposes coming to a grounding halt.

And recently, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni voiced concerns
about having Israel going forward with these talks if the Palestinians
do NOT commit themselves to continuing the negotiations past the April
29th deadline.

Also, a few weeks ago Israeli Radio reported that US officials are
working to revive the negotiations by perhaps putting on the table the
release of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for Israel abiding
by their previous agreement to free the rest of the convicted terrorists
and murderers...something that has been demanded by PA President
Mahmoud Abbas if peace talks are to continue.

But now the Palestinians are angry that Israel has delayed this
release and most likely will outright cancel the release of those
remaining prisoners, but who cares that they're angry for Israel does NOT do well
with threats and a threat is what Fatah official Hazem Abu Shanab issued
when he said, "Israel will regret its decision not to go through with
the release of the fourth batch." Yet even with this newest threat and after PA crybabies went running
to the international media whining that Israel had refused to release
the final batch of terrorists and murders, Benjamin Netanyahu...who is
facing condemnation from hard-line members in his coalition over the
release and facing a possible collapse of his government because of
it...told his Likud Party ministers that Israel will NOT free the last
of the prisoners unless it gets something in return and that freeing the
prisoners, if it is to go through at all, will take several days to
finalize. He also added that any further agreements will be subject to a
government vote. "Either it will be finalized or it will implode; in
any event, no deal will be made in the absence of a clear exchange
benefiting both parties,” said Netanyahu.

Besides, with there being very little progress in the peace process
to date, and with recent statements made by PA chief negotiator Saeb
Erekat that Mahmoud Abbas was staying in the talks only to secure the
prisoner releases, Israeli officials are rightfully reconsidering the
deal. I say screw the Palestinians...let the whole damn anything but a
peace process implode as the Palestinians are owed NOTHING...therefore
they deserve NOTHING.

Remember, last July in what was supposed to be a goodwill gesture on
Israel's part and a precondition to the peace talks, Israel agreed to
release a total of 104 prisoners in four batches...batches of terrorists
and murderers tried and convicted for killing Israelis, including children. In
return, the Palestinians promised (a muslim's promise is worth NOTHING...can you say taqiyya) NOT to abandon the peace talks and to stop their
efforts to push for recognized statehood with the UN...or the U(seless)
N(ations) as I call them. Israel has already released 78 of these bast*rds, but several of
those released have taken part in the ongoing terrorist attacks against
Israel and yet the Palestinians could care less and have demanded even
more. Demands that include Israel agreeing to freeze all settlement
construction...a demand Netanyahu has completely rejected. And standing
up to the Palestinians, Israel has rightfully made demands of their
own...demands that include the prisoner release be contingent upon a
commitment from the Palestinians to extend peace negotiations beyond
April, but the Palestinians want the prisoners freed first and only then
will they agree to extend talks.

Under NO conditions should Israel agree to this even though
Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, rejected Israel's demand outright
saying that the peace talks and the prisoner release are two distinct
issues, and then threatened Israel that they either release the
prisoners or the Palestinians will pursue both statehood and sanctions
against them for its occupation of land the Palestinians claim for a
state.

So when all the tit-for-tat is stripped away what the Palestinians
have done is drawn their own red line in the sand, and Barack HUSSEIN
Obama has helped them draw it. And lest we forget that our miserable excuse of a Secretary of State, John 'Swiftboat'
Kerry, has been pushing both sides...but more so Israel...to
accept the U.S. 'framework' of principles for a final status
agreement ..."or else."

And just yesterday Kerry suggested that to move the peace talks
forward Israel should now be known as the “national homeland for Jews.”
What an insult to Israel and Jews everywhere as this way Jews are
corralled into a 'detention camp' style homeland instead of being
citizens of the Jewish State of Israel.
And as to Kerry's "or else"...it's obvious that neither he nor Obama
have learned that Benjamin Netanyahu does NOT do well with
threats...does NOT do well with blackmail...and especially does NOT do
well with either one of these two men who side with Israel's enemies.
And to add insult to injury, being that he just wrapped up his failed
talks with his Russian counterpart to end the Ukrainian crisis, yesterday Kerry
went directly to Israel in order to
save...translation: to screw up...the failing Israel/Palestinian
anything but peace talks.

So it continues on as Barack HUSSEIN Obama gets his knife ready to once again stab Israel in the back.